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Vanilla Garlic is my nifty food blog that I tinker at with essays about life and food that I like to think are humorous or thoughtful. I also work as a freelance writer and a cookbook author. Whether I succeed at any of this debatable.

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Wednesday, July 9, 2008

From the Cupcake Archives...The title does sound a bit odd, no? This is slightly based off of zucchini bread, but this is a bit sweeter, and with a slightly different taste profile. The idea came after reading up on The Great Big Veg Challenge, a blog that, if you haven't read yet, you really should take some time and check it out. Especially you parents out there raising veggie-phobic ragamuffins. The woman's a genius I tells ya'!

The real key to this cupcake is turbinado sugar, extra cinnamon, and the addition of raisins to create a deliciously moist, dense, and courageously flavorful cupcake. The turbinado gives it a nice caramel flavor and appearence, while the cinnamon gives it that great spicy kick.

None of the flavors berate you, but instead talk to you softly, ask how your mom is, and then give you a backrub. It's really a nice summer cupcake, as it's a perfect chance to make use of all that fresh zucchini that'll be coming in soon. Currants or golden raisins would be great in this cupcake too, as would a variety of nuts, coconut, or maybe even some other spices like nutmeg or allspice. The cream cheese frosting just finishes everything off, and plus, it's cream cheese.

I like cream cheese. Don't you like cream cheese?

They have a reminiscence of maybe cinnamon raisin bread, or maybe carrot cake, but still very unique. If you take a bite, you'll know it's zucchini cake based on the fresh taste.

Zucchini CupcakesMakes 24 cupcakes / 350 F oven

What You'll Need...3 cups of all-purpose flour2 1/2 cups of turbinado sugar (muscovado, raw, and brown could work in a pinch too. white sugar will work I guess, but you will get a different end product than I did)1 teaspoon of salt1 teaspoon of baking powder1 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda2 teaspoons of cinnamon1 teaspoon of vanilla extract4 eggs at room temperature1 1/4 cup of vegetable oil3 cups of grated zucchini3/4 cup of raisins, currants or sultans

What You'll Do...1) Combine in a large bowl the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Make a well in the center.

2) Whisk together the oil, eggs, and vanilla extract. Pour into the dry ingredients and combine together. Batter will be very thick.

3) Add the zucchini and raisins, currants or what have you. The batter will gain more moisture and will become more workable. Scoop into cupcake papers a little over 1/2 full.

4) Bake for 18-24 minutes, being sure to rotate the pan after the first 15 minutes of baking. If a toothpick comes out clean when testing the cupcakes, they're done. Place on a wire rack to cool.

22
comments:

Garrett, Thank you so much. We are honoured!Freddie is in bed at the moment as it is 9 o'clock in the evening and school in the morning.(And his mother wants a gin and tonic and to put her feet up.)But in the morning I will show Freddie his dedicated recipe. He will immediately demand that I make it because it involves CAKE. And he is the original cake beast. (Think Eat Beast without the fur and scruples) Thank you Charlottex

Garrett , your posts are always so well written , I wish i could write 5% of what u write.and yes i love cream cheese more over i love the whole thing.....beautiful cupcakes...they have baked evenly and got a lovely golden brown colour.Would love to eat these warm.

I'd put cream cheese frosting on everything if I could, it's so amazing! I never thought of zucchini cupcakes before, but it makes sense, especially as I love zucchini bread with chocolate chips and lots of walnuts.

I ran across your blog, and this recipe, and just had to try it. I was amazed! They are the perfect blend of flavors. I added dates to mine, leftovers from Christmas cookies, and the finished product was excellent!

Hello,thanks for posting the link to this recipe at 101 Cookbooks! What a great way to use up some of the zucchini overflow. I made these yesterday and my 9-year-old son promptly gobbled down two of them, without icing. They are delicious, and I am QUITE sure that if I had told him they were zucchini cupcakes, he wouldn't've gone near them with a ten-foot pole, so I am feeling very pleased with myself :-). I plan to deliver the rest to his camp sleepover tonight, and think I will just not let them know til afterwards about how healthy they are.Thanks again, glad to be introduced to your blog.

Just made these cupcakes for my toddlers Valentine's Day party at daycare--they are wonderful! Moist and delicious. I am keeping this recipe with my sacred scraps of paper. Thanks a lot! (oh, and I learned what the heck turbinado sugar is...). Kate

Just made these for my son's first birthday--yum. I substituted 1C whole wheat flour, to no ill-effect, and added a bit more powdered sugar to the frosting to thicken it slightly. Great recipe, thanks!

Hey, you're leaving a comment! That's pretty darn cool, so thanks. If you have any questions or have found an error on the site or with a recipe, please e-mail me and I will reply as soon as possible.~Garrett